Second Chances
by MahouBunnyBell
Summary: Post-canon. Four years after the end of the manga Atem and Yami Bakura escape the afterlife! A new evil looms in the distance! Time to save the world. Or destroy it, if you happen to be evil. Puzzleshipping, Tendershipping
1. Escape

**Title:** Second Chances  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 1914  
><strong>Pairing:<strong> Puzzleshipping, Tendershipping  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Atem and Yami Bakura are dead. But it's not going to stay that way for long. Something's going down, and given Atem's past experiences it's probably evil.  
><strong>Authors Notes:<strong> Yeah, I'm writing Yugioh fic. I have no real excuse for myself. Feeling nostalgic, I guess. This is a radical rewrite of a fic I wrote in a notebook back in high school! I'm glad my taste has improved so much over time!  
>Thank you SO much to my wonderful beta readers!<br>And as always, I love to talk to people. If anyone reads this and feels like getting in touch with me? Go for it! I like meeting people!

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><p>The afterlife was different than Atem had expected- though he wasn't entirely sure what he had expected, after his whole stint in modern Japan. It certainly didn't meet the expectations he had back in Egypt, where he would take everything entombed with him to the next life where he would join the gods.<p>

It wasn't bad, though. It's appearance was undefined, but was warm and comforting, like stepping into the sunlight on a beautiful Egyptian day. And almost everyone that Atem had known in life- his original life- was there. Well, more or less.

He suspected that he was only able to see the spirits of those he had some connection to, as since coming to the afterlife he'd only seen people he knew, or at least knew of. There were his old friends, the priests that had held the Sennen Items alongside him. They were around often, and seemed just as they had in life. Then there was his father, and the mother that had died when he was young. And ancient relatives of Atem's seemed to come by from time to time, to meet the relative that had taken so long to come and join them all. They never stayed long, though.

Souls preferred to take their eternal rest with those they had known in life, after all.

That was where Atem's afterlife was atypical. He had his friends and family from the past. But he also had a spattering of people unconnected to that. He'd been able to seek out Yuugi's grandmother once, just to see how she compared to the memories in his former partner's mind. And once he'd come across the soul of Pegasus J Crawford, frolicking joyfully with the soul of his deceased lover.

Pegasus had greeted him cheerily, not holding any grudge against him from their feud in life. After all, his wish had finally been granted.

Atem's wish would be granted eventually too. The light of life didn't last forever, and it would come to an end for Mutou Yuugi and the other friends that Atem had left behind when he'd finally moved on. He just had to wait, and finally he'd see them all again.

That's what he was trying to explain to the spirit he was currently seated beside on the rocky outcrops that bordered the edge of the afterlife, while they stared out over the world of the living. The spirit that was more or less in the same position as him.

Though he didn't really expect the thief- what was left of the thief now that his vengeance had been stopped and he'd been forced to rest- to listen. He'd just felt bad for the spirit. Where Atem had an afterlife full of friends and family, the ancient thief had so little. Very few of those sacrificed at Kul Elna had moved on.

The thief spent all of his time alone, just staring out and watching the life of his former host unfold without him. It was pitiful, really. Atem had to offer a few words of support, even if in life (and a good portion of death) the thief had been his enemy.

"In less than a century they will all by up here with us. Don't forget that, thief. Dwelling on the separation like this is pointless. And pitiful."

The thief let out a dark laugh, his voice still laced with malice towards the Pharaoh. Even with Zorc's shadow gone, the hatred remained. "You're just as pitiful as me, then. After all, you come here to watch nearly as often as I do."

Atem really couldn't refute that. He did come here to watch his partner fairly frequently. Because even though he was in a world full of people he cherished, he cherished Yuugi more.

But he could manage to wait. Another century was nothing compared to the three thousand years he'd already been dead. Besides, it wasn't as if anything could be done about it.

"In fact..." continued the thief, "I think you're even more pitiful than me. After all, I don't intend to stick around here and just let my yadunoshi live out his life without me like you seem to be content to do. I'm going to find a way back."

Atem scoffed at the thief's insane delusion of somehow escaping from the afterlife so that he could go and further inflict himself on Bakura Ryou. It wasn't possible for spirits to just come back to life at will- if it was, who would stay dead? And besides, as pitiful as the thief was, it was definitely better for the world that he wasn't in it. It was much better for Bakura-kun at least, not to have to deal with the company of an ancient lunatic out to kill all his friends and plunge the world into darkness.

Well, presumably there would be a little less darkness plunging going on now, but Atemu was fairly certain the 'killing all his friends' part would still apply. It was just... the thief's hobby or something, he supposed. Thank Ra he couldn't cause any trouble here.

"There's no way back to that world, Tomb Robber. Just give it up."

The thief scowled at Atem and resumed looking out over the mortal realm. "There's always a way, Pharaoh. It's just a matter of waiting for the opportunity."

Atem was glad that opportunity would never come. He hoped.

* * *

><p>The young man sighed as he pried open yet another crate. It was late, but he had to finish doing inventory of all the new artifacts that had arrived at the Domino Museum that day so that tomorrow the new displays could be set up. There were still quite a few crates of ancient Egyptian relics left to unpack piled up in the museum's back rooms.<p>

The museum's owner seemed particularly fond of Egyptian artifacts. He always seemed to be arranging for some exhibit or the other of that nature to be shown. Oh well, it sold.

"What number crate is that, Yuuta?" The professor asked, looking over the clipboard holding the list of everything that they should have received. Yuuta glanced at the number on the box before reading it out.

"Forty-three."

"Hm. Stone tablet of unknown origin. Seems pretty dull, compared to some of the other things we've unpacked tonight." The professor peered over his shoulder, peering at the rather small stone tablet on its bedding of shredded paper. It really was a little out of place, amongst the golden treasures and ancient relics they had been unpacking all night.

"Well, I guess we need the plain stuff to make the fancy items stand out a little more." The young man chuckled and knelt to look more closely at the tablet. The engravings were intricate, and he could make out hieroglyphics spelling out something about returning from the dead for something. That was a little creepy. "I wonder what this tablet was for..."

"We'll have to ask Iida-san if he has any ideas tomorrow. He's the expert, after all." The professor replied, offering Yuuta a smile. "Anyhow, item accounted for. Let's get the crate sealed back u-"

He was cut off by a gust of wind blowing through the room. A stack of Iida-san's papers flew off a nearby desk, scattering around the room. The lights flickered as one lone photograph landed in the box, right on top of the stone tablet.

Not as bad as it could have been, really. Yuuta snatched the photograph of Iida-san and his family off of the artifact and set about gathering up the papers that had been blown around. The professor, meanwhile, searched for where the wind had come from.

In the end, he found nothing. He supposed the old building was just getting drafty.

* * *

><p>When the lightening began Yuugi looked up from the business textbook he'd been studying, peering out the window with curiosity. Was it supposed to storm tonight? He'd been pretty sure that the weather report had called for clear skies.<p>

Well, the weather report hadn't been entirely wrong. The skies were clear—Yuugi could see the stars twinkling between the increasingly violent flashes of lightening. It wasn't raining. Maybe it was just some kind of freak electrical storm.

"Yuugi! Are you still awake? Look at the lightning!" Yuugi's mother called from down the hall, making the college student jump. He hadn't realized his mother wasn't already in bed.

"Yeah, Mom, I was just watching it!" He called back in response, turning towards his bedroom door just in time for his mother to look in on him.

"Try not to stay up too late, Yuugi. You need your rest. I wouldn't want you to start talking to yourself again." It had been four years, and his mother still wouldn't stop mentioning that. Yuugi couldn't blame her, though. He'd never tried to explain the spirit of the Sennen Puzzle to his mom—he knew that telling her would have just convinced her that he was even crazier.

It wasn't like it mattered, anyway. He wouldn't be talking to himself ever again. His other self had moved on to the afterlife. He wouldn't be returning.

Yuugi fought off the familiar spell of intense grief that flooded him when he remembered the friend that was no longer with him. Time really didn't do much to make it easier.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll sleep soon. You should get some rest too."

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><p>Atem blinked as the hazy film that separated the afterlife from the world of the living seemed to, well, wrinkle. He'd never seen anything like that happen before.<p>

"What in Ra's name is that?" He muttered, looking over towards the thief to see if he might have some sort of insight into what was happening. The other spirit looked just as surprised as he was, though. Well, he supposed that meant he could scratch 'evil plot by the thief' off his list of explanations for what was going on.

The veil between the worlds sparked with color and life, stretching and warping further as the phenomenon continued. The thief rose and moved towards the barrier.

"Hey! Where are you going, thief? That could be dangerous!" Atem was up in a flash, following after the thief. Something was going on, and the thief couldn't be left alone.

The thief rolled his eyes. "Dangerous? What, do you think we might die again or something?"

Atem had to reluctantly admit that the thief had a point. Though there were things other than death to be afraid of.

As the two of them moved closer the film seemed to reach its breaking point; an opening suddenly ripped its way into existence. Atem's eyes widened, as the spirit of the Sennen Ring first gaped and then slowly allowed a smirk to crawl across his features.

"No way back to that world, eh, Pharaoh?"

"You can't possibly be thinking of-"

"It's not like I have anything to lose." The thief replied with a smirk, making a dash for the opening while calling his last words over his shoulder. "Maybe I'll be nice and send your precious partner to see you once I get back to the land of the living!"

Those words were all it took. Atem didn't even think twice about diving into the void after him. Even if this ended up ripping his soul to shreds he couldn't take the risk that the thief would be able to make his way back to the world of the living.


	2. Nudity

**Title:** Second Chances (chapter 2)  
><strong>Rating: <strong>PG-13  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 2143  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Puzzleshipping, Tendershipping  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Atem and Yami Bakura are back from the dead. Unfortunately, their pants are not.  
><strong>Authors Notes: <strong>Chapter 2, here already! Hopefully I'm on a roll! Thank you to everyone that gave me feedback on chapter one! You're my motivation to keep writing!

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><p>Yami Bakura's first thought when he came to was that maybe, just maybe, diving blindly out of the afterlife hadn't been the brightest idea. He felt like crap. His entire body ached, like he had fallen from someplace high, and-<p>

Wait. His body? He had a body?

The thief forced his eyes open, ignoring the stabbing pain that greeted him as he did so. The lights hurt, damn it! But after a few moments things seemed to grow more focused, and he was able to figure out where he was.

He was in a filthy alleyway, laying on his stomach beside some trash cans. A few small lights were illuminating the area, but just barely enough for him to make out the words 'property of the city of Domino' stamped on the trash cans. That was a comfort, at least he had landed in the right place.

And... there was something on top of him.

He craned his head around to see what it was, nearly having a heart attack when it registered. There on top of him was the blasted Pharaoh, still out cold.

And they were both completely naked. Apparently their new bodies hadn't come with clothing.

Making a face, the former spirit of the ring dumped the nude pharaoh off of himself and awkwardly pulled himself to his new feet. The pain was subsiding a bit now, and it wasn't as if he could stay in the alley in a naked pile with his arch-nemesis.

Speaking of which... the thief wondered if maybe he should just kill (re-kill?) the Pharaoh now, while he was out cold. He looked over at the other man's prone form, and frowned as he came to the decision that no, even if it would be endless fun he probably shouldn't murder anyone until he'd actually come up with a concrete plan of what he was going to do now that he'd made it back to the land of the living.

Huh, plan... Well, finding his yadunoshi was probably a good place to start. And finding (Okay, stealing) a pair of pants. Back in ancient Egypt nobody cared too much about people running around naked, but the modern world seemed to be extremely bothered by it.

That gave him an idea. He turned and looked at the unconscious Pharaoh with a smirk. He might not kill the man right now, but he certainly could humiliate him. Leaning over he set about positioning Atem spread-eagle on the ground, where he was in clear view of the street intersecting the alley.

He was cut short by the feeling he was being watched, and spun around to see a tall, fairly attractive man step out of the shadows. He had dark skin, and wore a suit. He also didn't seem at all phased by the fact that there were two naked men in the filthy alley. That was the part that led the thief to believe the stranger was somehow involved in whatever had happened that let him escape the afterlife.

The thief scowled at the strange man. He wasn't sure what he was up to, but it would probably be best if he was on his guard while he figured it out.

"You looking at something?"

The man smirked. "I'm just surprised. I didn't expect anyone to follow me out."

"I wasn't following you. I saw a chance and I took it." Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. He'd only just met this man and he already didn't like him. Still, even people he disliked could be of use. Like Marik had been.

"I see, I see. And the other one?" The man seemed as calm and self-assured as ever.

"He was trying to stop me."

"Well, that didn't work out so well for him. After all, you made it through." The man looked from Atem to the thief, smirk remaining on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Abasi."

"And I don't care." Yami Bakura replied. "We may have fallen out of the same hole, but that doesn't mean I have any reason to buddy up with you." He paused. "And if you're up to no good you really don't want to talk to sleepyhead over there."

The man in the suit- Abasi- chuckled. "You're right, you're right. But if you change your mind don't hesitate to look me up. I'll be around, Mister... I don't believe I caught your name?"

"You can call me Bakura." He might not share a body with the boy any longer, but he'd grown attached to the name. And so he was doing what he did best- stealing it for himself.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you... Bakura." Abasi turned and headed off, vanishing back into the early morning shadows as easily as he had come.

Yami Bakura scowled after him. Yeah, he still didn't like the guy. And he had no doubt at this point that he was up to no good. Still... he could be useful, eventually.

With a smirk the thief took off himself, intent on finding his yadunoshi and some pants. When he'd done that he could decide exactly what course of action he should take next.

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><p>It was a girlish yelp that finally woke Atem up. Followed by somebody with a very feminine voice murmuring the words 'oh my', and the sensation of something prodding his feet.<p>

"Oh thank goodness. He's not dead!"

"Just NAKED!"

Atem let out a moan and cracked open his eyes to see what was going on. The first thing that greeted him was the form of a young woman standing over him, looking concerned. She must have been one of the people he heard talking. And the naked person?

Good Ra. HE was the naked person. Atem wasted no time in groping around himself for something to cover his manhood with. In the end he settled on a discarded tabloid with the headline 'KAIBA SETO'S SECRET BOYFRIEND! WE REVEAL ALL!' printed across it in bold letters.

It wasn't the most dignified option, but it was that or a banana peel.

"Bad hangover?" She asked, clearly holding back a laugh. Behind her a younger girl with feathery hair was very pointedly not looking at him. She was wearing the same uniform Anzu used to wear- the Domino High uniform. Did that mean he was back in the land of the living?

Oh no! Where was that blasted thief!

Apparently he actually spoke that last bit, as the woman watching him tipped her head to the side. "What? Someone stole your clothes? Were you mugged or something!"

"Um... Yeah." Atem lied, not sure how else to explain his nudity without making himself look completely crazy. "Have you seen the thief? White hair, a little psychotic looking-"

"Oh, he's probably long gone. In case you haven't noticed, you've been out here pretty much all night." The woman glanced over her shoulder at the high school girl that was making a point of looking everywhere but at Atem. "Hey, Chisa! You have any spare clothes in your backpack?"

"Well, I have some gym shorts he could wear, I guess..." The girl opened her bag and pulled out a pair of shorts, inching closer to Atem and handing them over the best she could without actually looking at the naked man.

Well, that was better than nothing.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to return them once I acquire something else to wear." Atem promised, feeling bad for making this girl so uncomfortable.

The girl shook her head emphatically, not wanting the shorts back after they'd been worn by some naked man in a filthy alley. "That's okay."

"You can borrow my cell phone if you want to call someone." The older of the girls offered as she averted her eyes to let Atem pull on the shorts. Atem was rather grateful for that.

"That's... a good idea. But first, do you know the exact location of where we are?" Calling his partner and begging him to bring him man clothes would work better with that little bit of information.

"Sure. You're right across from Domino park, off of Second street. By the ramen shop." The woman replied, looking back to Atem in his tight fitting shorts and doing her best not to laugh. She apparently decided that the best way to do this was to look away, back to the other girl. "Chisa, you really ought to get going to school. Have a good day, okay?"

"Okay, sis." The girl replied, before finally looking to Atem. Now that he wasn't technically naked she didn't seem quite so put off by him. "Try not to get mugged again, Mister!"

"Um, sure. Thank you for your help." Atem decided he should have though more over his story as to why he was naked. Having people believing he'd go around getting mugged (and having his clothes stolen, at that!) was a little insulting.

Still, it was nice of the girls to help him.

"Anyway, see you later!" The girl chirped as she turned and resumed her trek towards school. Her older sister seemed to calm down enough to look back to Atem without laughing, so that she could hand over her phone.

Taking the phone Atem dialed the number for Yuugi's house. He was so glad he still remembered it.

* * *

><p>Yuugi was in the middle of eating breakfast when the phone started to ring. Curious, he turned his head to look at the device, toast still hanging out of his mouth.<p>

They didn't usually get calls this early. He hoped there hadn't been some kind of emergency.

"What time did you say you'd be home from class today, again?" Yuugi's grandfather interrupted his thoughts while his mother went to go answer the ringing phone.

"Oh, probably around four, Grandpa! I don't have any classes until noon." Yuugi replied happily. "Why? Do you need me to help out at the store?"

"Oh no, no. A friend of mine is just visiting today, and I was hoping that my wonderful grandson would be around to meet him." Sugoroku replied. "He has a daughter your age, you know. I hear she's very pretty-"

So THAT was what this was all about. Yuugi tuned his grandfather out. He knew that grandpa was only worried that he was lonely, but he really just wasn't interested. He hadn't had much interest in girls, apart from the crush on Anzu that never seemed to go anywhere and never would, especially now that his friend was off chasing her dreams in America.

Besides, if Yuugi had to choose someone to fill his loneliness Anzu wouldn't be his first choice.

"-gi. Hey, Yuugi!" Grandpa's voice pulled Yuugi out of his thoughts.

"Sorry Grandpa! I just spaced out for a minute there." Yuugi apologized, looking embarrassed. His grandfather just laughed.

"Well, your mom was trying to tell you that the phone was for you! Could it be a girl?" His grandfather teased. Yuugi blushed and ran over to take the phone from his mom.

"Mutou Yuugi speaking." He politely offered up into the headset. There was a sigh of relief on the other line.

"Aibou! I need you to bring me some pants!"

Yuugi blinked. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. All he could put a finger on right now was that this call was more than a little strange.

"Who is this?"

The voice on the other line brimmed with pride. "Don't you recognize my voice, Aibou! It's me! Atem!"

"ATEM?" Yuugi said it loud enough that both his mother and grandfather looked over from the table with concern. Then he reminded himself that his other soul was dead. Gone. And certainly not on the other line, asking him for pants. "No, really! Who is this? Is this you, Jou? It's not funny!"

"No! It's me, I swear! Just... just come to the alley beside Dice Ramen! Please! And bring a set of clothes I can change into!" The voice pleaded. Yuugi frowned.

Well, whoever it was calling him, they did seem to need his help. And if it WAS Atem... well, he supposed stranger things had happened to him than people coming back to life. He wasn't going to get his hopes up, but he might as well look into this.

"Okay. I'm on my way."

He wasn't, however, going to go alone. Once the other line went dead he hung up the phone, before picking it back up and dialing another number.

"Hey, Jounouchi? Are you free right now?"


End file.
